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Immunoinformatic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein and Identification of COVID-19 Vaccine Targets.
Front Immunol. 2020; 11:587615.FI

Abstract

COVID-19 is a worldwide emergency; therefore, there is a critical need for foundational knowledge about B and T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 essential for vaccine development. However, little information is available defining which determinants of SARS-CoV-2 other than the spike glycoprotein are recognized by the host immune system. In this study, we focus on the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein as a suitable candidate target for vaccine formulations. Major B and T cell epitopes of the SARS-CoV-2 N protein are predicted and resulting sequences compared with the homolog immunological domains of other coronaviruses that infect human beings. The most dominant of B cell epitope is located between 176-206 amino acids in the SRGGSQASSRSSSRSRNSSRNSTPGSSRGTS sequence. Further, we identify sequences which are predicted to bind multiple common MHC I and MHC II alleles. Most notably there is a region of potential T cell cross-reactivity within the SARS-CoV-2 N protein position 102-110 amino acids that traverses multiple human alpha and betacoronaviruses. Vaccination strategies designed to target these conserved epitope regions could generate immune responses that are cross-reactive across human coronaviruses, with potential to protect or modulate disease. Finally, these predictions can facilitate effective vaccine design against this high priority virus.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Oliveira SC
Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Doenças Tropicais (INCT-DT), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq), Ministerio de Ciencia e Tecnologia (MCT), Salvador, Brazil.
de Magalhães MTQ
Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Homan EJ
ioGenetics LLC, Madison, WI, United States.

MeSH

COVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesComputational BiologyCoronavirus Nucleocapsid ProteinsEpitope MappingEpitopes, B-LymphocyteEpitopes, T-LymphocyteHumansImmunogenicity, VaccineSARS-CoV-2

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

33193414

Citation

Oliveira, Sergio C., et al. "Immunoinformatic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein and Identification of COVID-19 Vaccine Targets." Frontiers in Immunology, vol. 11, 2020, p. 587615.
Oliveira SC, de Magalhães MTQ, Homan EJ. Immunoinformatic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein and Identification of COVID-19 Vaccine Targets. Front Immunol. 2020;11:587615.
Oliveira, S. C., de Magalhães, M. T. Q., & Homan, E. J. (2020). Immunoinformatic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein and Identification of COVID-19 Vaccine Targets. Frontiers in Immunology, 11, 587615. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.587615
Oliveira SC, de Magalhães MTQ, Homan EJ. Immunoinformatic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein and Identification of COVID-19 Vaccine Targets. Front Immunol. 2020;11:587615. PubMed PMID: 33193414.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Immunoinformatic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein and Identification of COVID-19 Vaccine Targets. AU - Oliveira,Sergio C, AU - de Magalhães,Mariana T Q, AU - Homan,E Jane, Y1 - 2020/10/28/ PY - 2020/07/26/received PY - 2020/10/02/accepted PY - 2020/11/16/entrez PY - 2020/11/17/pubmed PY - 2020/12/15/medline KW - B cells KW - Coronavirus Disease 2019 KW - T cells KW - epitopes KW - nucleocapsid KW - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 KW - vaccine SP - 587615 EP - 587615 JF - Frontiers in immunology JO - Front Immunol VL - 11 N2 - COVID-19 is a worldwide emergency; therefore, there is a critical need for foundational knowledge about B and T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 essential for vaccine development. However, little information is available defining which determinants of SARS-CoV-2 other than the spike glycoprotein are recognized by the host immune system. In this study, we focus on the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein as a suitable candidate target for vaccine formulations. Major B and T cell epitopes of the SARS-CoV-2 N protein are predicted and resulting sequences compared with the homolog immunological domains of other coronaviruses that infect human beings. The most dominant of B cell epitope is located between 176-206 amino acids in the SRGGSQASSRSSSRSRNSSRNSTPGSSRGTS sequence. Further, we identify sequences which are predicted to bind multiple common MHC I and MHC II alleles. Most notably there is a region of potential T cell cross-reactivity within the SARS-CoV-2 N protein position 102-110 amino acids that traverses multiple human alpha and betacoronaviruses. Vaccination strategies designed to target these conserved epitope regions could generate immune responses that are cross-reactive across human coronaviruses, with potential to protect or modulate disease. Finally, these predictions can facilitate effective vaccine design against this high priority virus. SN - 1664-3224 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/33193414/Immunoinformatic_Analysis_of_SARS_CoV_2_Nucleocapsid_Protein_and_Identification_of_COVID_19_Vaccine_Targets_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -